Quote:
Originally Posted by seattleflamer
A cautionary tale for Flames fans is what happened to the NBA in Seattle. The Sonics were well supported and deeply cared for, had plenty of wealth in the area and corporate support, also had a past championship and a winning tradition. There was a sense of entitlement and disbelief of the threats to leave among the fanbase and elected officials.
But, leave they did under a contrived league and (carpetbagger) owner mandated demand for a new building which the State and City refused to fund.
One advantage for Calgary is the local ownership may be more inclined to think of the team in terms of stewardship of a heritage brand than as a purely economic enterprise.
Still, in the end, if ownership can't make it economically feasible with an aging arena and have a choice between another jurisdiction's subsidized modern arena versus paying one wholly by themselves, I think you know which one they'll pick.
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Where would the Flames move to and make more money than in Calgary? I'd bet the moment they left, there'd be another group in line, waiting to put a team right back here.